Arthur R. Butz – The Hoax Of The Twentieth Century

Chapter 4: Auschwitz
Table 6: Death cases in the concentration camps, July 1942 to June 1943
MONTH INMATES DEATHS PERCENT MONTH INMATES DEATHS PERCENT
July 98,000 8,329 8.50 Jan 123,000 9,839 8.00
Aug. 115,000 12,217 10.62 Feb. 143,000 11,650 8.14
Sept. 110,000 11,206 10.19 March 154,200 12,112 7.85
Oct. 85,800 8,856 10.32 April 171,000 8,358 4.71
Nov. 83,500 8,095 9.69 May 203,000 5,700 2.80
Dec. 88,000 8,800 10.00 June 199,500 5,650 2.83
the Reichsführer-SS the following two tables with a promise that, allowing for the
onset of the cold weather, the results achieved would be of a permanent nature. 262
Thus, after more than a half year of a campaign to reduce the death rate in the
camps, Auschwitz still had about 80 per day on the average. Because, as had been
seen, almost all the “unable to work” were at Birkenau, it is certain that almost all
of these deaths occurred there.
Auschwitz also seems to have received some rather bad selections of inmates
from other concentration camps. 263
The Netherlands Red Cross report on Auschwitz (vol. 2) also offers some data
on the death rates at Auschwitz for 1942-1943. For the period October 30, 1942,
to February 25, 1943, the death rate is specified as about 360 per week on the average,
and about 185 per week for the period February 26 to July 1, 1943. It is
also said that a total of 124 of the Dutch Jews who entered Birkenau in July-
August 1942 (mentioned above) died in the period October 30, 1942, to July 1,
1943. However, their figures for total deaths seem somewhat low and difficult to
reconcile with the data presented above, so there may be some error or misunderstanding
here.
It is perfectly obvious that these deaths, however deplorable and whatever the
nature and location of the responsibility, had nothing to do with extermination or
with Jews as such. From the point of view of the higher SS administration, they
were “catastrophic” and efforts were made to bring them under control. It is not at
all remarkable that with such death rates, cremation and mortuary facilities anticipating
worst period death rates of even hundreds per day existed at Auschwitz.
The Auschwitz death rate improved but slightly during the course of the war.
During 1944, when the inmate population of the camp had expanded to 100,000
or more (probably on account of territorial losses in the east which forced evacuations
of labor camps), the death rate was 350 to 500 per week at Birkenau (which,
as we have seen, accounted for almost the entire Auschwitz death rate). 264
It is a tragic fact that, even in modern times, “camps” established during wartime
have amounted to death traps for many sent to them. The basic causes for
such conditions have been similar: people thrown together chaotically in hastily
organized camps, with inadequate sanitary measures and an uncertain situation as
regards food and other supplies. Thus, during the American Civil War, the POW
262
263
264
1469-PS in NMT, vol. 5, 379-382.
NO-1935 in NMT, vol. 5, 366-367.
Fyfe, 729, or Appendix D herein. Case 6 transcript, 14326.
161